


Christmas at the Ryans

by enterprise29



Category: Castle
Genre: Chaptered, Christmas, F/M, Family, Family Dinners, Family Dynamics, Family Reunions, Gen, Issues, Multi, Multiple Pairings, Multiple Relationships, Multiple chapters, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Own Characters - Freeform, Relationship(s), Shopping, mad castle plans, mentioned Jenny O'Malley, multi-chaptered, relations - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-03-01
Updated: 2015-12-24
Packaged: 2018-03-15 20:44:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 15
Words: 5,548
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3461402
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/enterprise29/pseuds/enterprise29
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A castle plan put in place with Alexis help to bring happiness to those closest to them.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hi everyone hope you enjoy this, would love to hear what you think of my story. Also any suggestions to make this story better or ideas of things you would like to happen in future chapters greatly appreciated.
> 
> This is my first multi-chaptered castle fiction. 
> 
> Disclaimer own nothing to do with castle.

Chapter 1  
'You're sure you know the plan Alexis?' Richard (rick) castle asked is daughter.  
'yes dad I'm sure, you already asked me three times whilst making that sandwich' Alexis castle responded slightly exasperated.  
She knew what she had to do she just hoped it all went according to plan. They were counting on her.  
Rick was about to go over the plan once more despite what Alexis said when his wife Katherine (Kate) Beckett-castle stopped him with a look that clearly said she knows what she has to do castle and you are beginning to annoy her, however instead of saying that Kate spoke up with 'Perhaps we should be going Castle. Do you want a lift Alexis?'  
'no thanks, I think I'll walk, less suspicious that way, but thanks anyway' Alexis replied to her stepmother.  
Gathering their stuff Kate and Rick eventually left the 'loft' apartment that they shared. Both desperately hoping that the plan worked.  
About half an hour after Alexis also left the apartment and began the fifteen minute walk.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2  
Climbing the stairs Alexis desperately hoped that everything would go ok.  
Eventually arriving at apartment 36B Alexis carefully reached out to knock on the rather non-descript brown door.  
Seconds later a small voice came from behind the door. 'who is it?' The feminine voice asked.  
'Hi Sarah it's lex' before Alexis was able to finish her sentence completely there was a scrabbling behind the door that led to it being opened.  
'lexie' Sarah said as she launched herself at the older girls legs, before continuing in a muffled voice due to talking into Alexis' legs 'What you doing here, lexie? You come play?'  
Extracting herself from the hug enough to bend down to the five year olds height Alexis replied 'hi Sarah, possible although first I need to talk to your dad.' Again before Alexis could finish Sarah jumped in 'dad's in with dev, he getting him ready'.  
Before Sarah tried to drag Alexis into her brothers room she was able to ask the little girl a question. 'sarah, should you have opened the door?' Alexis asked whilst closing said door and spying the chair the little girl had obviously climbed up on to open the door.  
Squirming slightly Sarah made to answer but before she could another voice cut in clearly having heard the door shut.  
'Sarah what are you doing? You know you're not allowed to open the front door?' The girl's father asked as he entered (well ran into the room).  
'I know dad, but it was lexie' the little girl told her father in away that she clearly thought that meant it was all alright.  
Still unhappy with his daughter and planning to further talk about it with her later, the girl's father looked up and spotted Alexis.


	3. Chapter 3

'Alexis? What are you doing here?' Kevin Ryan asked after finally acknowledging the other girl in the room.  
'hi Kevin' Alexis replied before starting to put the plan into action by continuing 'I'm here for the shopping trip'.  
At Kevin's confused look Alexis carried on 'dad said you had some Christmas shopping to do and were planning to do it today, well after dad told me that I asked him if he could ask you if I could join you as I had some Christmas shopping still to do, and he told me that he asked you and that was fine, so here I am' she continuing her rambling explanation of why she happened to be standing in his living room at half nine in the morning. She finally finished her sentence with 'and you don't have a clue what I'm on about do you? Dad never asked'.  
Of course Alexis knew that Kevin would have no idea, that was part of the plan.  
'um no. I don't think he did say anything, but seeing as your here why don't we do it anyway? I do need to do my Christmas shopping after all.' Kevin replied.  
'no. It's your day off, I'm sure you had something else planned if dad was mistaken.' Alexis said.  
'no it's fine. We didn't have anything planned did we kids?' Kevin asked Sarah and Devlin.  
'no, we weren't doing anything' they both chorused, smiling up at Alexis   
'well then, that's settled. So where were you thinking about going?' Kevin asked.  
'dad said you were going to the mall across the bay' Alexis told him, just as her dad had told her to say, although why there she wasn't sure. 'yeah ok sure we just need to get ready. 10 minutes ok?' Kevin questioned.  
'take all the time you need' Alexis replied with a small smile.  
As the Ryan family disappeared in to other rooms Alexis sent a quick text to her dad.   
Stage one complete.   
A  
Was what it read.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4  
Less than half an hour later Alexis, Kevin, Sarah and Devlin were sat in Kevin's car on their way to the mall.  
When Alexis was sure Sarah and dev were happily chatting between themselves, (they appeared to be playing car bingo or something like that) and Kevin and herself were settled into a normal conversation Alexis started implementing stage two of the plan.  
'so what are you doing for Christmas this year Kevin?' Alexis inquired.  
'not a lot this year. We would normally go down to my family for Christmas but after Jenny. I told my Ma we weren't coming this year. We'll just have a quite Christmas at home this year.' Kevin said resolutely.  
His reply although it sort of upset Alexis also made her think that this whole plan might work. After all it was going well so far.  
'You should join us at Christmas Kevin. Dad's already planning on inviting Javier and Laine. I know he'd invite you too, but Kate was telling him you always go away so he probably thinks you won't be here.' Alexis responded.  
'Thanks Lex, but honestly we will be fine. We wouldn't want to impose or anything' Kevin started, however before he could continue Alexis was already talking.  
'of course you wouldn't be imposing. We would love to have the three of you round. Especially if you aren't going to your family this year. Please say you'll come.' Alexis pleaded with her best castle puppy dog eyes impression that Kevin only just caught due to watching the road.  
'I'm sure you don't really want us there Alexis but thank you for the offer it's very kind, but Christmas is a time for family after all. Not to mention I told my family I wasn't coming not the other way round. I think a quite Christmas will be much better for us this year.' Kevin responded as he tried to refuse Alexis' kind offer not to mention trying not to succumb to the puppy dog eyes. He could see where the elder castle had gotten it from all those times he pleaded over certain theories during their numerous cases.  
Realising this may be more difficult than she first though Alexis tried again not planning on taking no for answer. Even though she was to some extent only saying these things to fit in with their plan she knew she didn't lie once especially as she replied to him this time.   
'of course we want you there. You and Sarah and Devlin are practically family. In fact no you are family. Please Kevin why can't you see that. Just because you turned down one family Christmas doesn't mean you have to turn down two.' Seeing that that particular argument did seem to have worked in wearing Kevin's resistance down Alexis followed it up by saying 'Actually you should come over a day or two before perhaps the 23rd after you all finish work for the holidays. We usually finish decorating the tree in the morning of Christmas eve. I'm sure Sarah and dev would love to help.'. Seeing the look on Kevin's face Alexis tried one last point before allowing him to talk any further. 'and don't even get me started on Christmas morning. You know my dad, he is such a big kid he would love it if Sarah and dev were there to make his getting up at five am justified. Please Kevin?'  
Alexis did have one more thing she was planning to add after that but she didn't need to as Sarah's little voice piped up 'can we dad?' And Devlin also joined in with 'we stay at lexie's'.  
With a small smile knowing that she had most likely won Alexis sat back in the seat much more relaxed. After all Alexis knew Kevin couldn't say no to his kids.  
They were what kept him going at the end of the day.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5  
By the time the quartet arrived at the mall Kevin had been pursued to accept Alexis offer and she had even gotten him to further explain what he normally did at Christmas.  
Now all she had to do was relay that information back to her dad.  
'Right then where do you want to start?' Kevin asked Alexis, however before she could reply both of his children answered 'Toy store'.  
Chuckling slightly at his children Kevin did agree they could go there before they left. If they were good of course.  
'but we always good daddy' Sarah replied with a smile. 'Course you are' Kevin replied knowing that wasn't always strictly true.  
'well originally I was just supposed to be tagging along so what gifts do you need to get?' Alexis asked re-entering the conversation.  
'I literally have no idea. I need gifts for: My sisters, my Ma and Pa, my nieces and nephews and something for each of my aunt and uncles families, and some other gifts' Kevin trailed of having listed a lot of people.  
'ok so perhaps we should start in there' Alexis responded pointing towards a department store.  
Agreeing they started towards the shop.  
As they got closer the highly decorated window displays became visible. At that point the excited chatter coming from the two youngest Ryans increased to the point where you could barely understand them where words were tumbling so fast. That said Alexis was sure she caught Sarah asking if father Christmas would be here.  
After taking a few minutes to study the window decorations the four of them entered the store.  
Upon entering they were greeted by a particular cheerful member of staff dressed in a green and red elf outfit complete with elf ears. It made you wonder just how much of the cheerfulness was false at having to wear something like that.  
The elf whose name badge read 'Savannah' came up to the four of them and offered them a complementary gift bag each.  
After a quick 'Happy holidays' from her they moved on to grab a trolley to place their shopping in. First however Sarah and Devlin were placed into it to stop them running off to explore. The four gift bags they had been given were also placed into the trolley.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6  
The first department they came upon was the crystal section where Kevin spotted a lovely Crystal vase that would be perfect for his mother.  
'why don't you get then Kevin?' Alexis asked when she saw him moving to put the item down.  
'its far too breakable. Perhaps if I had been seeing them I would have bought it but I can't send it through the post.' Kevin replied.  
'Dad knows this fantastic little courier that ships what ever you want really cheaply and quickly, not to mention safely. They would definitely get that vase there safely' Alexis promise.  
Instead of agreeing however Kevin took a note of the item to consider it for later.  
By 12:30 they had managed to get a few of the presents they each needed, including one crystal vase. However before they were able to move on to the next department the voice of one three year old Devlin Ryan piped up 'I hungry' he said.  
Deciding to stop for lunch they paid for all of their current wares and left the store in search of the food court.  
However before going to the food court they first used one of the malls locker storage solutions to put the goods in so that they didn't need carry them around.  
When they did eventually reach the food court they then had to decide where to eat due to all of the various food business in the area  
Having decided on a quite corner of a Louie lou's cafe they all sat down to look at the menu.  
Having each chosen their meal (two hamburger and fries, a child's lasagna and a child's jacket potato) Kevin with much protesting from Alexis got up to order and pay for their meals.  
Alexis although protesting that Kevin didn't need to pay for her meal used her Kevin free time wisely to text her dad an update.  
Stage 2 & 3 complete.   
Kevin would normally go to his family (apparently a five hour drive from here) for Christmas, he told his mother (Ruth I think he said she was called) that he wouldn't be coming - now it's your turn.  
Got him to agree to come to us from the 23rd - 25/26th, but I'm sure he can be convinced to stay longer with a bit of persuasion.  
A  
Was all that her message said.  
She just had time to see the message conformation before Kevin return with their drinks and a number for food.  
Whilst they waited for it to arrive they planned through what else they needed to get. Meanwhile castle had just received Alexis' text.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7  
The twelfth precinct was particularly quite that day leaving Esposito, Kate and to his dismay Castle doing all of their paperwork.  
Whilst they were doing the paperwork they were chatting. More specifically they were discussing Castle's plan.  
'do you think Alexis will be able to get the information we need?' Rick worried.  
'don't worry Castle' Kate started before continuing 'You know he already agreed to go Christmas shopping with her. That means he is still open to celebrating.'  
'I know but you know he hasn't been himself since Jenny.' Castle started before being cut off by the arrival of a new message.  
1 new message  
Alexis (ICE)  
'It's from Alexis' castle told them before opening the message. Castle breathed a sigh of relief. Alexis was getting the information they needed.  
Looking over his shoulder after he mentioned it was from Alexis, Kate got to work finding a phone number for Ruth Ryan.  
Eventually finding a number for Mrs. Ryan the two detectives (and castle) waited as it began to ring.  
Shortly after dialing the phone was answered.  
'Hello Ryan residence' the person answered.  
'Hello Mrs Ryan my name's Kate Beckett' Kate started but was cut off by Ruth asking slightly panicky 'What's wrong with Kevin? You do work with him right?'  
Noting her voice Kate reassured the mother. 'Kevin is fine Mrs Ryan. I do work with him, but this is purely a social call.' She told her.  
'oh thank goodness. What can I help you with? Actually there is something you can help me with too.' Ruth responded.  
'what can we help you with Mrs. Ryan?' Kate asked hoping it would be along the same lines as what she was calling for.  
'Firstly call me Ruth. Secondly you called me first so' Ruth started before Kate cut her off.  
'go ahead Ruth, I have a feeling you want something similar to us' Kate told her.  
'well I doubt that, but if you insist I was wondering if you could try and convince Kevin to come home for Christmas' Ruth responded.  
Smiling brightly Kate replied 'Actually it was quite a similar request we wanted to make. We were going ask you if you wanted to come here for Christmas to surprise Kevin'  
'Thank you for your offer Kate but it really would be easier if you could convince Kevin to come to us as the entire family gets together.'   
Whilst Ruth was talking Kate was trying to think of a way to get Kevin to change his mind and go home instead Ruth added 'if you and your family would like to join us as well you would be welcome. Kevin is always talking about you and the rest of the team when he visits, they of course are all welcome too. The more the merrier.'  
'Thank you for your kind offer Ruth but we wouldn't want to intrude, we will of course try to get Kevin to change his mind though' Kate told her.  
'Nonsense. You must come, I'll give you my email address so we can sort out all the details. Do you have a pen?' Ruth responded commandingly.  
Wondering quite how Kevin managed to tell his mother he wasn't coming for Christmas in the first place, Castle quickly gave Kate a piece of paper and a pen to write the email address on.  
After that the call was quickly concluded and Esposito and Kate went back to their paperwork, castle however grabbed the email address and started emailing Mrs Ryan.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8  
To: Ruth_mackilon_Ryan@gmail.com  
From: Richard_Rogers/RC@hotmail.com  
Subject: A Ryan family Christmas  
Dear Mrs Ryan  
My name is Richard and you recently spoke with my wife Kate Beckett about joining you at Christmas.  
Having worked alongside Kevin from the last few years we would be honoured to join your family this Christmas.  
You told Kate to email you back so you could sort out all the details with us. My wife is quite busy at the moment and I wondered whether I could help instead?  
Yours thankfully  
Richard.  
Minutes after Rick pressed send the chime of a new email being received was heard. The message read.  
To: Richard_Rogers/RC@hotmail.com  
From: Ruth_mackilon_Ryan@gmail.com  
Subject: Re: A Ryan family Christmas  



	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9  
Back at the mall having eaten, Alexis and Kevin started shopping again however this time they had split up with the agreement to meet by the mall's central fountain in an hour.  
This was due to Alexis' persuasion that Kevin needed to look for Christmas presents for Sarah and Devlin. In actuality it was so Alexis could help Sarah and Devlin get a present for their father.  
Once Kevin was out of earshot Alexis leaned down to ask the two children she was currently looking after what they wanted to get their dad. 'so where shall we look first?' Alexis asked.  
'what do you think lexie?' Sarah asked, whilst Devlin innocently asked 'have we got to get something for mommy too?'  
Unsure exactly how to answer that Alexis diplomatically responded 'how about we order your mom some flowers instead?'  
The two children quickly nodded which Alexis took that as an agreement. With the thought of that crisis averted, Alexis took hold of the two children's hands and lead them to the menswear department.  
In there the two children picked two new silk ties each for their father, one waistcoat and a pair of slippers.  
From there Alexis took them to the jewellery department to take a look at something she had spotted earlier that morning. Walking up to the desk Alexis asked if they could see the engraved items.  
It was then that she pointed out several different items to the two children with a suggestion that they also get that as one present too.  
With a chorus of yes' from Sarah and Dev Alexis quickly smarten the two of them up before whipping out her phone and taking a few photos.  
With Sarah and Dev having chosen the best (and sweetest) looking photo Alexis told the member of staff helping them exactly what they wanted and then paid for it, being told it would be ready for collection by the morning of the 22nd, just two days later.  
Checking her watch Alexis saw that they should be heading towards the fountain.  
Just before they reached it they found Kevin placing several more bags in to the locker space with the rest of their stuff.  
This of course made Sarah and Dev curious about what had been bought, fortunately Kevin was able to distract them with the offer of an ice cream.  
Alexis also took advantage of the Ryans being distracted to place all the bags Sarah, Devlin and herself had managed to acquire in the locker too.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10  
Having finished the majority of their shopping by 4 o'clock they decided to leave.  
So after gathering all of their stuff from the locker they made their way to the black sedan car they arrived in that morning.  
Before they had even gotten out of the car park Devlin had fallen asleep and Sarah didn't look like she would last much longer either. At that point both Kevin and Alexis were very glad they had decided to leave the rest of the shopping for another day.  
During the ride back Alexis was able to convince Kevin to let her look after Sarah and Devlin on the 23rd so he could just come straight over to the 'loft' after work.  
Kevin made the fatal mistake in asking Alexis if she knew anywhere that gift wrapped presents as he was all fingers and thumbs when it came to wrapping. Much to his surprise though she offered to wrap them herself. After forcing Kevin to agree to let her wrap them he felt he would never be out of her debt.  
After all Jenny had always done the Christmas shopping and wrapping and now she was gone Kevin did wonder wether he would have gone out and done any Christmas shopping had Alexis not turned up at his door that morning.  
This being his first Christmas without Jenny since he had met her was going to be hard, that's why he was incredible thankfully for his friends. Even if they did medal and send their daughters round under the pretence of him already having agreed.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11  
Having gotten through the majority of the heavy traffic Kevin offered, well told Alexis he was dropping her home.  
When they arrived at the apartment Alexis quickly grabbed all of the bags and took them back into the flat. She had invited Kevin in but with Sarah and Devlin still a sleep it was easier for him just to take them home.  
A few hours later found Alexis surrounded by wrapping paper and tape as she wrapped all of the presents she had bought whilst she was out.   
Lucky she had finished wrapping and hidden all the presents before her dad and Kate came home.  
Once everyone was settled on the sofa with a drink Castle and Alexis updated everyone on how the plan was going.  
'so since we phoned Ruth earlier I've been sporadically emailing her throughout the day about different things' Castle was telling everyone.  
From the different emails that Castle had sent he was able iron out all the details in the plan. In his opinion this was going to be very easy. Everyone else wasn't so sure but tried to channel Castle's enthusiasm.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12  
After everyone had gone to bed that night Alexis started to write several lists for the coming days. It helped to be organised especially with her dad around.  
1\. Make sure dad books the minibus tomorrow for our journey.  
2\. Buy the last few remaining presents.  
3\. Remember to pick up Sarah and Dev's Christmas present for Kevin.  
4\. Buy extra gifts to take up for Kevin's family.  
5.buy new snow boots and winter coat.  
6\. Pick up some gifts to take to one of dad's charities.  
7\. Buy extra gift wrap.  
8\. Collect extra Christmas food and pack it.  
9\. Make sure Sarah and Dev's flowers to Jenny had definitely been sent.  
10\. Make sure everything is wrapped and packed.  
Were just some of the things on her list.  
The next morning Alexis left at the same time as Kate because she had so much to do.  
Alexis' first stop was the shops for those last minute items. She was concerned that if she didn't get it today then she might run out of time, after all tomorrow she had to go back to the mall to pick up the presents that had been ordered, wrap them up and the charity gifts so she could take them in on her way past. Then she was going into Kevin's as she had offered to wrap his presents and this offered an opportunity to put in place her plan for the day after.  
Hours passed as Alexis ticked off everything on her list before returning to the loft to wrap the last of her gifts.  
The wrapping did take slightly longer than she expected but she still managed to get everything wrapped and packed up before her dad and Kate got home.  
However because she had been so busy throughout the day she had forgotten that the three of them were meant to be going to her Grams' pantomime show that night.  
Not having long to get ready Alexis quickly ran upstairs to change, whilst her dad cooked something for tea.  
Eventually they were ready to go.  
'That was great grams, I loved it' Alexis told her grandmother Martha a few short hours later as they returned to the loft.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13  
Alexis was very lucky she was able to drive, it meant she was able to easily(well as easily as possible considering the traffic) able to get over to the mall where Kevin and her had gone earlier that week.  
The department store where the items she was collecting was absolutely chaos being even closer to Christmas.  
Alexis did however still have time to check over all the items she was collecting despite the chaos and was very pleased with the quality of all of the gifts.  
With all of her shopping now completely finished Alexis was able to get back across the bay just before evening rush hour traffic began, although that still wasn't easy and took quite a long time.  
Alexis was very glad that she was planning to walk to Kevin's instead of driving though.  
By the time Alexis had dropped all the charity Christmas gifts off and arrived at Kevin's it was quite late.  
She was very glad Kevin was expecting her (she'd asked her dad to pre-warn him that she was coming over), as Sarah and Devlin were already asleep when she arrived.  
'hi kev, I hope dad told you I was coming. I thought it might be better if I did your wrapping tonight rather than when I was looking after Sarah and Dev in case they saw one of their gifts.' Briefly stopping for breath Alexis continued by putting her plan into action. 'so you know dad has taken tomorrow off he's going to drive me over here tomorrow morning and then drive you to work, Kate can then take you straight home to the loft after you all finish your shift tomorrow so you don't need to bring your car anywhere.dad says that way we can grab Sarah and Dev car seats if we decide to go out at all. What do you think?'.  
'wow Alexis you and your dad have this all planned don't you' Kevin replied with a laugh. 'yeah we do, you know what dad's like at Christmas, he goes a bit mad and everything has to be perfect because its Christmas. He and grams always make it special though.' Alexis responded with a smile.  
By the time Alexis made it to bed that night everything was ready and in place. All the presents were bought, wrapped, and packed up including Kevin's.   
That night with a semi exhausted smile on her face Alexis fell asleep.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14  
'Alexis wake up' Castle called up the stairs, you could tell he was already excited.  
Grinning at that Alexis quickly got up and ready. Very soon the two of them were at Kevin's flat.  
Whilst Rick took Kevin to the precinct Alexis helped Sarah and Devlin pack some extra clothes and toys in addition to what Kevin had already packed and given her that morning. She also packed more for Kevin himself.  
By the time Rick got back to the Ryan residence Alexis had gathered both children in warm winter wear, had the full suitcases ready by the door and all the Christmas present and bits and bobs they needed to take with them sorted.  
Within ten minutes (it took longer because Castle couldn't get the car seats out of Kevin's car and in to his safely) they were on the way to the loft.  
Once at the loft it was easy (sort of) as Alexis had already put everything ready before she left that morning (including the presents as her dad had left to get the car ready before she did meaning it was safe to remove them from their hiding places) the only real hiccup was once again the car seats as they had to be moved from Castle's car into the minibus Castle had hired.  
The reason a minibus had to be hired was because nearly everyone was riding together, only those working that day were driving up later, plus they had a lot of stuff to take with them.  
At the loft as well as changing vehicles and gatherings all of their stuff they also picked up grams and Kate's dad Jim Beckett (and their stuff).  
Before they could begin the journey to the address Ruth had given them they had to pick up their last passengers.  
Luckily Laine had already gathered her stuff and brought it to Javier's house which meant they were able to pick up the last two passengers together. The other passenger being Carla Esposito, Javier's mother who was already staying there for Christmas.


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15  
Once the eight people and all of their stuff were safety ensconced within the vehicle, they set off.  
According to Ruth the journey should take about five hours.  
Despite the length of the journey it was actually quite fun, and no one (especially Sarah, Devlin and of course Castle) companied at all.  
Plenty of games were played, and carols sung (and other songs too), as well as stories told that kept everyone happy.  
Very soon the group of travelers reached the address they'd been given. Although they weren't sure they were in the right place at first because instead of the house they'd been expecting a rather large and rather magical looking, stone mansion house stood before them.  
'wow' was the expression on most of the bus' occupants tongues.  
Shortly after the sound of the engine died away the snow covered front door opened.  
The graying, but beautiful woman appeared in the open doorway briefly before walking down to the bus.  
'Grandma' the two Ryan children delightfully screamed when the older woman reached them.


End file.
